On 3/15/96 I sent an e-mail to Dr. Haynes, one of the authors in Patel
et al 1995, asking about STE2 and STE3 in their study and in S.
Cerevisiae. Bottom line is that the molecules referred to by Patel et al
were in fact not the yeast molecules, despite having identical acronyms.
The correspondence follows:
Dear Dr. Haynes,
In a recently published study (1) Patel DD et al reported the presence of
STE2 and STE3 in thymic epithelial cells of humans. QUESTION: are these
STE2 and STE3 molecules homologous to the a-factor and alpha-factor
receptors which occur in the yeast Saccharomyces Cerevisiae?
Dr. Haynes replied:
"No these are not yeast antigens. They are antigens reflective of
monoclonal antibodies Dr. Patel has made in the laboratory and are human
cell surface antigens. I'll refer your note to him to provide you with
the characteristics of the antigens to which the antibodies bind. tx.
bart haynes"
*****
au: Patel DD et al
so: Journal of Clinical Immunology 15.2.80-92 1995
ti: Characterization of human thymic epithelial cell surface antigens:
phenotypic similarity of thymic epithelial cells to epidermal keratinocytes.
*****
Teresa would like to thank Keith Robison and Richard Warnock for focusing
upon the ambiguity of STE2 and STE3, communicating with me and the
newsgroups in this matter, and for taking the time to use their
expertise with molecular data bases in founding their responses.
I, with egg on face, admit that I was wrong in presuming Patel et al were
specifying yeastian STE2 and STE3; such is not the case.
In a subsequent post, I will re-state, with more organized cites, why
(despite the rapid demise of STE2 and STE3 in my model) I believe my
hypothesis regarding nasal-mucosal immunological contributions to
sexual- and gender-orientation is plausible.
With regard to the Internet, wherein discussions range from
conversational to technical, I feel that clarifying the STE2 and STE3
ambiguity has been helpful to me and, along with other comments ranging
quite diversely, has helped me see better the basis of my hypothesis and
also its purely hypothetical aspects.
Teresa
Teresa C. Binstock, Researcher
Developmental & Behavioral Neuroanatomy
Denver CO USA
Teresa.Binstock at uchsc.edu